Tuesday, July 8, 2025

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Arts & Entertainment

FILM REVIEW: ‘Shoshana’ directed by Michael Winterbottom

Winterbottom is always a competent director, no matter what subject he pursues, so while he doesn’t quite illuminate the politics of the tragic situation he depicts, there is nothing crude about the rendering.

REVIEW: Romanticism’s winding path retraced — Zoltan Fejérvári’s piano recital at Tannery Pond

The first half of this program consisted of two sets of shorter pieces known as "character-pieces," by Dvorak and Janacek, while the second half began with an earlier example from Robert Schumann.

THEATER REVIEW: ‘A Hundred Words for Snow’ plays at Chester Theatre Company’s Town Hall Stage through July 13

For their second production as Chester Theatre’s co-artistic directors, Michelle Ong-Hendrick and Christopher Baker have given their audience a remarkable adventure to witness.

Two Eminent Victorians . . . Matthew Arnold and Arthur Hugh Clough

Matthew Arnold’s poems often reflect our search for meaning in life. Arnold’s best buddy at Rugby School and later at Oxford was Arthur Hugh Clough (pronounced “cluff”) who became important as a bridge poet between the Victorian and Modern eras.

AT THE TRIPLEX: Manmade monstrosities

You would think that after nearly 100 years of movies sounding the alarm, we might have taken the hint. Instead, we live with remakes and sequels that shift the messaging to match the times.

DANCE REVIEW: BODYTRAFFIC at Jacob’s Pillow

Seeing this company will bring a smile to your face and get your blood—and maybe your feet—moving, and that is always a good thing.

THEATER REVIEW: ‘Out of Character’ plays at Berkshire Theatre Group’s Unicorn Theatre through July 26

As my regular readers know, I am not a fan of solo-performance mono-dramas. This has been a season of several of them, and this one has the advantage of special interest, no sexual abuse, and career highlights that are amazing to hear about.

AT BERKSHIRE BUSK!: Week of July 3, 2025

The festival’s primary programming begins at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

THEATER REVIEW: Barrington Stage Company’s production of ‘Camelot’ plays at the Boyd-Quinson Theatre through July 19

A beautiful production of a marvelous musical with handsome stars brings us a long, fine, and emotional show that is very well worth seeing.

PREVIEW: Schlather directs Barber’s “Vanessa” in bold Williamstown debut for Heartbeat Opera, July 17 to August 3

"To direct, Williamstown has engaged R.B. Schlather, a critics’ darling for his community-based, stripped-down Handel productions in Hudson, New York. A daring pairing." — AIR MAIL

THEATER REVIEW: ‘Salvage’ plays at Dorset Theatre Festival through July 5

This is not your usual comedy (no one dies in the play, so it is technically a comedy), but it is a graphic, quirky comic look at a segment of humanity we probably know little about.

PREVIEW: Daniil Trifonov opens Tanglewood with Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3

The Globe and Mail described Daniil Trifonov as “arguably today’s leading classical virtuoso,” while the Times called him “without question the most astounding pianist of our age.”

Dance and Music Students from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee perform at Tanglewood Learning Institute

How these dancers were able to connect to the music and the musicians, and vice versa, was nothing short of amazing.

AT THE TRIPLEX: Drive My Car

The claustrophobia of the car is a perfect fit for the movies. Cars can take you wherever you want to go, sure, but for the duration of that trip you are confined in a small space with no escape.

PREVIEW: Early music group Aston Magna Announces 2025 Concert Season

Aston Magna’s four concert weekends span several centuries and styles, from early 17th-century composer Dario Castello to contemporary Baroque specialist Nicola Canzano.

The 2025 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival opens

Ted Shawn, the Pillow’s founder and creative center for decades and famous for bringing dance and performance from all over the world to the Pillow, would have been proud.

THEATER REVIEW: ‘The Victim’ plays at Shakespeare and Company through July 20

“I was truly swept away with this one, swept into it, kept alert, kept inquisitive and kept entertained.”